Remarks by President Trump at Swearing-In Ceremony for Treasury Secretary Mnuchin

THE PRESIDENT: It is my great honor tonight to present to the American people our new Treasury Secretary of the United States, Steven Mnuchin.

Steven, I want to congratulate you. A lot of people wanted that position, Steven. A lot of people. A lot of very successful people. But I’ve known you for a long time, and I know how smart you are and how great you will be for our country. So congratulations to you, to Louise, and to your whole family.

Americans should know that Steven — our nation’s financial system is truly in great hands. With him, we’re going to have no problem, believe me. Once again, with this appointment, I am following through on my promise to appoint only the very best and the very brightest.

Steven is a financial legend with an incredible track record of success. I’ve watched this over the years. He’s been my friend for many, many years. Everything he’s touched has turned to gold. He’s done an amazing job. And that’s what we want for our country.

He has distinguished himself through decades of achievement in finance and in banking, and has a degree of skill, talent, and insight that few will ever be able to match. He has spent his entire career making money in the private sector, and that’s okay — especially when you’re Secretary of Treasury. That’s what we want. Now he will go to work on behalf of the American taxpayer.

To all citizens I say: Steven will be your champion, and a great champion. He will fight for middle-class tax reductions, financial reforms that open up lending and create millions of new jobs, and fiercely defend the American tax dollar and our financial security. And he will also defend our manufacturing jobs from those who cheat and steal and rob us blind. It won’t be that anymore. We won’t have that anymore. Countries and others won’t be able to take advantage of us. It’s a whole new era.

Steven knows the system and he will help ensure that Wall Street plays by the rules. He will use his insights to get the best possible result, most importantly for the American worker. They’ve been treated very unfairly for a long time. Not anymore. He will put his skills to work for America’s working families, and he will help make America the greatest jobs magnet on the face of the Earth. It will truly be for our country, for the first time in a long time, a rising tide that lifts all boats and that lifts all ships.

Steven, I want to again congratulate you and Louise on this unbelievably high honor. This is one of the great honors. I know you will carry your office with dedication, integrity and passion — tremendous passion. You have much — very important work ahead for the American citizens, and you will have absolutely no problem. He’ll work 24 hours a day — I know him. He’ll work 28 hours a day, if they give the extra four hours. He will be very, very special.

So I’d like to just say, so importantly, God bless you, God bless America, and congratulations. Thank you, Steven. (Applause.)

(The Secretary is sworn in.)

SECRETARY MNUCHIN: Mr. President, I want to thank you for this extraordinary opportunity to serve you and the country as the Secretary of Treasury. It has been a great experience to travel around the country with you for the last year, seeing so many parts of this country and meeting hundreds of business leaders.

I share your economic vision and goals, and committed to working with you to enact policies, to grow the economy, and make better economic opportunities for all Americans.

I would also like to thank Vice President Pence for the honor of swearing me in and for all your support in this job. There have been so many people that have helped me in this process, and I want to thank them all as they helped prepare me for the role of Secretary. And I want to thank them.

It’s a great honor to follow in the footsteps of Alexander Hamilton and so many great Treasury Secretaries. I look forward to working with the entire great staff of the Treasury Department. I am committed to using the full powers of this office to create more jobs, to combat terrorist activities and financing, and to make America great again.